Peak Re is deeply committed to its home market in Hong Kong and has been active in contributing to the Hong Kong re/insurance industry. Last month, Franz Josef Hahn, CEO of Peak Re was appointed by the Hong Kong Government as one of the non-official members of the industry advisory committee (IAC) of the recently established independent Insurance Authority (IIA).
The IIA is a new independent insurance regulator established in early 2016. At present, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI), a government department, regulates insurance companies and three Self- Regulatory Organisations (SROs) that supervise insurance intermediaries.
The IIA will eventually assume the statutory functions of the OCI and take over the regulation of insurance intermediaries from the three SROs through a statutory licensing regime. As a member of the IAC and the only representative from the reinsurance industry, Franz will contribute his insights as an industry veteran with 30 years of regional and global reinsurance experience, particularly in the Hong Kong and regional markets, to assist and advise IIA on enhancing the development of the local insurance industry.
Franz has shared his views to IIA on the ramifications of regulation in the regional market place and a copy of his first contribution can be found in the next article: The case for a far-sighted approach to reinsurance regulation. In May 2016, Andrew Mak, Peak Re’s Deputy Head of Underwriting, was nominated as the Convenor of Hong Kong’s Reinsurers’ Forum as well as a councillor of the General Insurance Council (GIC). The Reinsurers’ Forum is part of the GIC which is governed by the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI), one of the three SROs in Hong Kong. The Reinsurers’ Forum creates a platform for the reinsurance industry to discuss various markets and acts as an advisor to regulator. Hong Kong is currently in the process of developing the IIA and one of the Forum’s jobs is to align its member companies with the new IIA structure.
Discussion topics in the pipeline include the implementation of Risk Based Capital framework in Hong Kong, the new reinsurance guidance notes, which will be implemented in Jan 2017, issues related to IIA, and reinsurance-related issues on the development of Qianhai special economic zone. Both appointments will last for a term of two years and by advising the IIA and HKFI, Peak Re will play an important and effective role in the development of the local insurance industry.
